Who is Opal Lee? The 'Grandmother of Juneteenth' and Her Legacy

Juneteenth is a significant day for African Americans, especially in Texas, even before it became a federal holiday.

There's a lot of work that goes into getting a holiday federally observed, and much of the credit goes to a North Texas woman known as the "Grandmother of Juneteenth," Opal Lee.

In 2016, Lee began campaigning for Juneteenth to be recognized as a federal holiday. According to NBC DFW, the “little old lady in tennis shoes" began her journey on foot in her hometown of Fort Worth and continued through various cities, eventually reaching Washington, D.C., where she soon attracted support from celebrities and politicians along the way.

Here is what to know about the Grandmother of Juneteenth.

What is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth, short for "June Nineteenth," commemorates the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and enforce the emancipation of all enslaved people. This event occurred two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

Juneteenth was officially declared a federal holiday on June 17, 2021.

Who is Opal Lee?

Known affectionately as the " Grandmother of Juneteenth," Lee has dedicated decades to activism, tirelessly educating people about the significance of Juneteenth. Her annual grassroots campaign and the accompanying march to Washington, D.C., were pivotal in the declaration of Juneteenth as a national holiday in 2021.

Born in Marshall and raised in Fort Worth, Lee has garnered numerous accolades for her efforts, including the remarkable gesture of receiving a new home built on the same grounds where her childhood home stood, destroyed by 500 white rioters on June 19, 1939.

"The fact that it happened on the 19th day of June has spurred me to make people understand that Juneteenth is not just a festival," Lee told Fort Worth Star-Telegram as she recalled the incident in 2021.

Lee was a former school teacher who lived through the Great Depression, World War II, the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, and voted for the first African American president. She is 98 years old.

When is Juneteenth 2025?

This year, Juneteenth will be observed on Thursday, June 19.